Panchayats

Panchayat Raj is a system of decentralization of village administration in India. It's a Gandhian idea to accomplish "Poorna Swaraj" (full independence of the country) through "Grama Swaraj"(full independence of the village).

After the formation of Kerala state the Administrative Reforms Committee (ARC) under the chairmanship by the Chief Minister suggested to expand the organs of government in various levels of village as the committee recommended a two tier system with village panchayat at panchayat level and district council at district level. But the Kerala Panchayat Raj Act 1994 replaced the two tier system by the three tier system through amendment to enhance the participation of local people in the development of the nation. The three tier system includes Village, Block and District panchayats. Kerala has 1199 self-government institutions from village panchayat, block panchayat, district panchayat, municipal councils and municipal corporation.

The Kollam district panchayat has won the best district panchayat of the state for 2021-22 financial year while the Mulanthuruthy grama panchayat has won the best grama panchayat award for the 2021-22 financial year and the Perumpadppu block panchayat has won the best block panchayat for the year. This panchayat system strengthens the democracy of India and it helps to enhance the participation of local peoples in the development of nation.

However, The Union Panchayati Raj Ministry has decided to adopt the Kerala Model of democratic decentralisation in other states. The 14th Finance Commission has awarded a grant of Rs.2,00,292.20 crore to grama panchayats to address local developmental issues. A 5-day workshop was organized by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj to prepare guidelines for participatory planning to be adopted by local bodies. The workshop is being attended by senior officers of MoPR, heads of Panchayati Raj departments of all states and heads of State Institutes of Rural Development. Teams will visit 13 panchayats in Thrissur district to get a firsthand experience.